Originally Posted by
mike
You are lucky to spend $200 per month on fuel. I know people who spend about that much on fuel every week. Of course, these people drive four wheel trucks and live in the country, but work in the city, so they have long commutes. Still, to them the thought of changing their lifestyle, the type of vehicle, or their home or their work, is incomprehensible. Thus, other things will be sacrificed. The first sacrifice, of course, will be savings for retirement.
So, as Congress contemplates making cuts to Social Security and Medicare and Medicade, retirement gets pushed farther and farther out largely because personal retirement investments will go to pay for fuel.
I bike to most of my errands and work, and I spend maybe $50/month on fuel for my car, on average. Most of my usage comes from when I want or need to go someplace out of town, because that's most of the times that I need to use my car. It's perfectly possible to change if you don't live in a rural area, but people are very resistant to it just as an idea.
I truly believe, though, that most Americans will choose to sacrifice EVERYTHING we have as a nation rather than give up their cars. They will stop spending money on anything else if they have to, and this will cripple the economy to the point that eventually more and more people won't be able to afford the car-based lifestyle they currently lead. That's one of the main reasons I'd like for us to be developing alternatives now, while we still have the luxury of choice. It's kind of pathetic, but most people get angry at the very suggestion that they won't be able to drive as much in the future, because their emotions about the car are bound up with their identities as Americans.